Exeter City back on track

Grecians defeat Salford after three successive defeats

Salford’s first-ever trip to St James Park ends in defeat as Exeter City keep their promotion hopes alive with three crucial points.

The Grecians hit national headlines on Thursday as former academy graduate Ollie Watkins scored his first-ever goal for England; six more City academy prospects started against Salford as City manager Matt Taylor named a relatively youthful side.

In a first half that featured very few chances, the visitors were unlucky not to break the deadlock inside 15 minutes when Ian Henderson cut inside Alex Hartridge before hitting the crossbar.

The Grecians, meanwhile, started slowly but they saw more of the ball as the half progressed – and just after the half hour mark, the hosts scored with their first shot on target. A low cross from Robbie Wilmott found Jake Taylor on the edge of the box, the captain’s shot was blocked, but the rebound fell nicely for Matt Jay who scored from a tight angle to bag his 18^th goal of the season. City led 1-0 at the break.

Salford enjoyed large part of possession in the second half, but they didn’t create a lot of chances at goal - the closest they came was in the 70^th minute when Ibou Touray’s low driven attempt was saved by the feet of Jokul Andresson.

It finished Exeter 1 Salford 0